Side effects

After Wednesday's class I was thinking about what Thoreau's intentions were when writing his essay. A lot of people brought up that it's possible he was just whining about taxes and didn't feel like paying them. It's very possible his intentions were more geared towards addressing his own needs rather than trying to move a whole group of people towards an ideology that addresses ways to protest government legislation. His intentions may not have been to directly promote justice (which by Kant's standard means the action was not moral), but look at the movements he influenced. Ghandi and King's peaceful protest have one of the most powerful examples of civil disobedience that humanity has seen, and both were indescribably successful in accomplishing their goals of the protesters. In more modern example, Egypt represents the same idea of gently stepping away from society with strong objections to government. Whether or not Thoreau's intention was to do so, he created a standard by which all effective protests must be lead. It's similar to the invention of the potato chip. A guest sent some fries back to the kitchen because they weren't thin enough for his liking. In a sassy response, the chef cut the potatoes as thin as he could and deep fried them, discovering the crisps we love today. Thoreau set out to justify not paying taxes and when society heard him, they responded by using his description for something more.